Northern Trek: The Spread of Ixodes scapularis into Canada

This study is an extension of previous work published in 20141 showing the predicted expansion of the distribution of the Lyme disease tick vector into Canada,” says Maria Diuk-Wasser, a professor at Columbia University who focuses on the emergence of vector-borne diseases. “Although the results are not qualitatively different, it represents an improvement on the previous study by incorporating the full range of and most up-to-date climate models and emission scenarios.” Importantly, she says, the new study accounts for the inherent uncertainty in such models and scenarios but also indicates that an increased risk can be expected in any event.
Canada’s public health officials track the leading edge of the tick’s range expansion in several ways: through laboratory identification of ticks found on patients by doctors and veterinarians; by conducting surveys in which a large cloth is dragged across a woodland floor, picking up any ticks that are questing for a host to bite; and by compiling data on reported cases of human infection. The Canadian government has provided information on how to avoid tick bites and identify the symptoms of Lyme disease.10 “We’ll all need to participate in adapting to the tick’s arrival,” says Ogden.
Sharon Levy based in Humboldt County, CA, has covered ecology, evolution, and environmental science since 1993. She is at work on the book The Marsh Builders: Wetlands in the Fight for Clean Water....

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PMID: 31512987 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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